Social Innovation Europe Initiative

The European Union recognised the importance of Social Innovation in their 2020 flagship initiative. Consequently, the European Commission launched their pilot programme, the "Social Innovation Europe Initative" the 16th and 17th of March.

At the launch event high profile representative, namely the European Commission's President Jose-Manuel Barroso, and the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn insisted on the importance of Social Innovation for society.

The speeches, which gave additional momentum to the development of Social Innovation at the European level can be found here:

• President Barroso's speech
• Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's speech

Under the lead of the Social Innovation eXchange (SIX) at the Young Foundation, Euclid Network and other social innovation experts strongly cooperate with the European Commission on the Social Innovation Europe Initiative, which is financed under the EU's Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).The final programme report can be found here.

The initiative aims at setting standards for social innovation, under the guidance of DG Enterprise, such as best practise and a stronger integration of social innovation in EU policy. Find out more about the EU's plans on social innovation here.

In the meantime the European Parliament has concluded a resolution on innovation. The emphasis is on Social Innovation, innovation that tackles societal challenges.

Find out more information about the call on our "Funders and Projects" page.

On 5th of April 2011 the European Commission issued a Communication (COM (2011) 173 final) on "An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020", where the Commission advises national governments to use Social Innovation under the European Innitative on Social Innovation, which can contribute to improving the effectiveness of social inclusion policies.

Social Innovation Europe also hosts an online hub, an indispensable resource providing the latest information on European social innovation. It features interviews with prominent innovators, case studies of successful ventures, the latest research, and in-depth analysis from the leading thinkers in the field. Here you can also find an interview with our Executive Director Filippo Addarii for SIE's website.